Brodeur, always a Devil, takes a new role with team
The soon-to-be-inducted Hockey Hall of Famer will be testing his business skills
NEWARK, N.J. — Martin Brodeur’s new office happens to be less than a block from his statue.
Four years after he played his last game for the New Jersey Devils and nearly two years after they dedicated a slightly larger-than-life bronze statue of him outside of the Prudential Center, Brodeur resumed working for the Devils in August as an energetic, but untested, executive.
Officially, Brodeur, 46, is the executive vice-president of business development. But his specific duties are yet to be determined.
For now, he essentially shadows Hugh Weber, the Devils’ president, attending meetings and sitting in on conference calls, learning how every facet of the front office works. For example, he spent a recent game night with the game-operations department, learning how the Devils try to use music, videos and contests to add more enjoyment to each game.
Brodeur, who will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Nov. 12 as the
NHL goaltender with the most career wins, acknowledged that he had a lot to learn about the sport’s business side — and wanted to. During his playing days, he said, “I just showed up and played hockey.”
Brodeur said during a recent interview in his somewhat barren office that he is not just shaking hands, signing autographs and posing for photos with Devils’ fans at the arena — though he will happily do that if asked. He always was curious about hockey’s business side.
Weber said Brodeur “made it very clear that he was not there just to walk around the corridors.”
Only five Devils have had their numbers retired — Brodeur and his teammates Ken Daneyko, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Patrik Elias — but Brodeur is the most adored player in the franchise’s 35 years in New Jersey.
“If you think about who we are,” Weber said, “the list is very short, and Marty is 1-2-3.”
Brodeur was a magnificent goaltender, of course, setting NHL records with 691 wins, 125 shutouts and 1,266 games played. He helped the stodgy Devils win the Stanley Cup in 1995, 2000 and 2003. His jersey number, 30, was retired by the team in February 2016.
By that point, Brodeur, who played the final seven games of his NHL career as a stopgap goalie with the St. Louis Blues in the 2014-15 season, had retired as a player and joined the Blues as an assistant general manager.
Brodeur said he knew he would “always be a Devil,” but he had heard that some of the team’s fans were upset that he ended his career with the Blues.
“I have zero regrets,” he said of his time with St. Louis. “I thought it was unbelievable. Just the way they embraced me over there, and for me to understand what another team was like. I was with one team so long, I had no clue what playing for a Western Conference team was like, kind of dealing with all that stuff. Now I get it.”
In May 2015, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong offered Brodeur a threeyear contract as an assistant general manager, but he had to move to St. Louis. Brodeur has four children, ages 16 to 23, with his first wife, Melanie, and an eight-yearold son, Max, with his second wife, Genevieve.
It would be the first time since he entered the NHL that New Jersey would not be his home base. But Brodeur enjoyed the job and made the move.
“I was like a jack-of-all-trades,” he said. “I was with the NHL team, with the amateur staff, with the American Hockey League guys. And hockey at that level is played on the weekends. So I saw my little eight-year-old play hockey only twice last year. That kind of hit me when my wife brought it up to me. I was like, seriously? I was like, it’s time to have something a little more laid back.”
When Brodeur’s contract with the Blues expired after last season, Armstrong said that Brodeur could stay on but that the team would be asking more from him.
“He integrated very well into the whole operation,” Armstrong said. “For him, it was just the time that was needed to commit to the job, because you know he’s 100 per cent invested in what he does.”
Brodeur was intrigued by the business side of the sport, but he knew there was no possibility to do that with the Blues, who wanted his hockey knowledge.
So Brodeur called Weber. The Devils had changed dramatically in the four-plus years since Brodeur played his final game for the team. Only two Devils who played in that 3-2 victory over Boston on April 13, 2014, are still with the team: Andy Greene and Travis Zajac.
The Devils had a new coach in John Hynes, and, perhaps more significantly, a new general manager in Ray Shero, who had replaced the legendary executive Lou Lamoriello. The Devils were younger and faster; they don’t look like the stingy teams of Brodeur’s era.
“Hugh was great,” Brodeur said. “I explained my situation, with my eight-yearold, and weekends at home and all that. And he said, ‘I always told you that you belong in New Jersey. So we’d love to have you. And if you want to work in business, we’ll teach you everything you need to know.’ So I got on board.”
Brodeur was with the Devils when they travelled to Sweden for an exhibition game and their regular-season opener against the Edmonton Oilers.
He went to an Eagles concert at the Prudential Center to chat with the group’s manager and start learning about other arena events. He said he hoped to travel to Philadelphia for an NBA game involving the 76ers, who share an ownership group with the Devils.
“It’s just learning more,” he said. “If you’re a player, you don’t know what’s going on, really. I kind of went into the hockey department in St. Louis, and I was comfortable with it, because it had been something that I’d done all my life. But there’s another side to it. If you want to try to grow in the game, have a better impact on the jobs you’re going to have, you need to know where the business comes from.”
Brodeur sits in a suite at the Prudential Center during home games, chatting with clients. But he does pass through the corridors at the arena before and after games.
“When I walk, people are yelling at me and stuff,” he said. “They’re really appreciative.”
He smiled, then said, “It’s nice to feel wanted like that.”